


PC Gaming (Roman Plays: Pokemon HeartGold Nuzlocke)

by Kerriathechosen1



Series: Sanders Sides Nuzlockes [2]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Among Us (Video Game) Setting, Alternate Universe - Video Game World, Among Us References, Attempt at Humor, Characters Playing Among Us (Video Game), Characters Playing Video Games, Developing Friendships, Fluff, Friendship, Humor, Pokemon, Pokemon References, Talking Pokemon, Video Game Mechanics, should I put the Pokemon nicknames in the "characters" category?, video games - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:09:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28081458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kerriathechosen1/pseuds/Kerriathechosen1
Summary: Roman discovers that the PCs have a gaming feature allowing his Pokemon to play games together in the digital world. How could he possibly say no to Thomas?Canonically compliant with Roman Plays: Pokemon HeartGold Nuzlocke.C1 - Among Us (Between C3.3 and C4.1)C2 - Among Us (Between C3.3 and C4.1)C3 - ???
Series: Sanders Sides Nuzlockes [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1888126
Kudos: 2





	1. Among Us (Part 1) (C3.3 < C4.1)

**Author's Note:**

> {This is such a strange idea, I know, but in the Among Us phase, I just couldn't resist. XD  
> As mentioned in the summary, this is canon-compliant! It may or may not be mentioned in the actual story, and you can read it as just a little fanfic of a fanfic instead of canon if you want, but I will specify during which chapters of the main story these chapters occur in or between. This will be another way to give the characters more bonding time that I couldn't fit very well into the main story without making the chapters super long or transitioning between moods too much. It's an optional read -- kind of like reading the manga for full accuracy instead of watching the anime and getting the gist of it! (Someone is going to hate me for that comparison.)  
> The third chapter won't be out for a little bit. I won't be doing games that are long and story-driven, nor will I do games that I don't really play or enjoy, because that wouldn't be fun to write or read. But there will be more!  
> Gosh, this is so silly and cheesy that I'm almost embarrassed to post it. But it was super fun to think of and write, so hopefully some of you also enjoy it. If not, that's perfectly alright, and I hope you enjoy my future stories! <3}

  
  


Roman stared at the gaming option on his PC account, confused. As a nurse passed him by, he called out to her. “Excuse me, miss! What is this ‘PC Gaming’ icon?”

The nurse smiled at him over her shoulder. “Oh -- that’s a new feature. It’s a secure program allowing your Pokemon to experience human games from within. It’s been tested thoroughly to ensure that, even in a power outage, Pokemon will be safely stored in the program and can be returned to your box. It’s a free-of-charge program as of now. Once more games have been adapted for the system, I’m sure there will be a fee, but there are a few games automatically installed on every user’s account. I would ask you to please not play using the quick access PCs, but feel free to check it out in the PC room. They have headphones available there for your use as well.”

“Ooh, I wanna play! Roman, can we play before we leave?” Thomas stared at him with wide, pleading eyes.

“Of course we can!”

“It’s too late,” Absolem complained, hanging on to Roman’s backpack. “Sleepy time…”

“Why not just a few rounds?” Toph suggested. “It couldn’t hurt.”

“We better be sleeping in,” Remus mumbled, speeding up to a run to catch up with Roman as he sped toward the PC room of the Pokemon Center.

* * *

“Do we really all have to join?” Remus complained, as Roman finished explaining the game  _ Among Us _ to his Pokemon.

“ _ Yes _ , you  _ do _ ,” Thomas said with a frown, nudging his stubborn teammate. “Come on, it’ll be fun.”

“Sure.” Remus let out a long, heavy sigh, but his eyes were already scanning the image of the map, memorizing where all the vents were.

“So, if we’re input into the game, are we put in the bodies of the characters, or do we walk around as ourselves?” Absolem asked.

“I think… yourselves…?” Roman answered skeptically as he looked it up.

“Can we invite Ratasha?!” Thomas’s eyes sparkled. “Since she’s in the PC?” Toph nodded rapidly in agreement.

“We can try,” Roman replied.

“Might as well add Casper too.”

“This is gonna be so much fun!”

“Don’t forget, it’s a game about deception and betrayal.”

“Oh, I won’t,” Absolem said, with a slightly mischievous smile.

* * *

**There is 1 Impostor among us.**

Thomas exhaled, not sure whether he was happy he wasn’t the impostor or wishing that he was.

Their characters spawned in the cafeteria of the Skeld. Everyone stood there for a moment, checking their tasks and suspiciously casting glances at one another, when suddenly the lights began to grow dim. Toph and Casper cautiously floated backward away from everyone else, while Ratasha burst away into the left hallway.

“Stick to someone,” Remus stated, walking over to Thomas just as the world around them turned black. Dread pooled in his stomach as the sounds of nearby footsteps reached his ears. Thomas reached out for Remus, unable to see or hear him, and the gentle brush of a tail against his arm allowed him to breathe easier.

They walked down through the hall by admin into storage, Remus more silently than him. Thomas felt against the wall to make his way through the doors and into electrical. He heard fumbling and jittery movements that couldn’t have been doing any good. Then there was another voice, a calm and steady one belonging to Absolem, that murmured directions to those shaky hands trying desperately to fix the lights. Thomas hurried in to help out, pressing one of the switches that Toph had accidentally turned off. The three of them looked out anxiously and waited for the light to once again fill the room. When it did so, Thomas noticed several things. First of all, Absolem was quietly admonishing a trembling Toph. Casper had just floated into the room. Ratasha wasn’t anywhere in sight. And someone else was missing -- someone who  _ should  _ have been right by his side the whole time.

“Where’s Rem?!” he shouted. Toph and Absolem turned to look at him, Absolem raising an eyebrow.

“What do you mean? He wasn’t in here fixing the lights.”

“He was right by my side on the walk here!” Thomas felt himself shaking, as he realized there were only two reasons Remus would leave his side without a word like that. Either Remus was the impostor, or Remus was killed.

“That’s not sus at all,” Absolem said with narrowed eyes.

“I’ll go with you to storage to check. I have to do gas,” Casper offered.

“ _ Y-You _ came in last, though,” Toph pointed out.

“I don’t care  _ who  _ comes with me!” Thomas exclaimed. “Either it’s Remus or something happened to him! Let’s go!” Before anyone could utter another word, he was dashing out of the room and toward storage. The presence of light made his arrival all that quicker.

And it made what he found all the more shocking.

**_Dead Body Reported_ **

_ Remus: Did he really just keep on going?? _

_ Remus: He was standing RIGHT THERE when it happened. _

Absolem: So it was in storage, then?

Thomas: :(

_ Remus: A frown isn’t gonna help you, Tommy. _

Toph: Then it has to be Casper or Ratasha, right?

Ratasha: :&

Toph: Because none of them were with us…

Thomas: :/

Ratasha: :P

Thomas: :C

Ratasha: :L

_ Remus: For the love of god… _

Casper: Toph, Absolem, were the two of you together the whole time?

Ratasha: :F

Toph: No, I got there first. Absolem came later.

Thomas: You were taking an awfully long time with the lights…

Ratasha: :T

Ratasha: :S

Toph: I was there first! I couldn’t have killed Remus if he was with you!

Ratasha: :X

Absolem: And Ratasha did run in the opposite direction…

Ratasha: :D

Thomas: If it’s not Ratasha then it’s Casper or Absolem!

Casper: Or it could be you.

Thomas: It’s Casper.

**_Ratasha has voted._ **

_ Remus: This is painful to watch. _

Casper: You have no proof.

_ Remus: Look at the time. _

Absolem: Why were you so late to fix the lights?

Ratasha: :J

Ratasha: :J)

Toph: Guys, we’re running out of time…

**_Thomas has voted._ **

**_Absolem has voted._ **

Casper: Because I had admin tasks and those are a death trap.

Casper: Wait.

**_Toph has voted._ **

Casper: Absolem, didn’t you go past me into cafeteria

_ Remus: Uh-huh. _

Ratasha: :O

**_Casper has voted._ **

**Thomas** **Casper ⚑ ⚑ ⚑ ⚑**

**Remus** **Toph**

 **Ratasha** **Absolem ⚑**

**Casper was not The Impostor.**

Thomas blinked in shocked silence as Casper was ejected and the game continued. He glanced questioningly at Absolem, whose face was rather closed off as he stared out of the windows into space. Ratasha zoomed off toward the right hallway this time, leaving just Thomas, Absolem, and Toph in the cafeteria together, exchanging silent looks. Finally, they all went their own separate ways. Toph went left toward medbay while Thomas and Absolem went down toward storage.

As soon as Absolem stepped into storage behind him, the doors closed, and Thomas frantically ran to the other side of the room, just barely managing to stay out of an impostor’s reach of Absolem. He refused to let him have an easy kill -- that was, if Absolem  _ was  _ the impostor. He couldn’t tell for sure.

When the doors finally opened, Thomas happened to be in the upper part of storage. It suddenly occurred to him that he could use an emergency meeting to get rid of Absolem, so he ran toward the cafeteria. Absolem was quick to follow. Before Thomas could press the button, though, an alarm blared through the building, red lights flashing at them to signal a reactor meltdown. Thomas ran around the other side of the table, keeping himself at a distance, while Absolem stood in wait.

Just then, Ratasha sprinted toward them from the right side of the cafeteria. In a flash, Absolem shot towards Ratasha and sliced off her head.

**_Dead Body Reported_ **

Absolem: Thomas.

_ Remus: Pfft, great try. _

_ Ratasha: :? _

Thomas: Absolem just killed Ratasha in front of me!

Absolem: I saw Thomas do it.

_ Remus: Oh great, you’re here too. _

_ Casper: I as well. _

_ Casper: There is a ghost in the ghost chat. _

_ Ratasha: (: :) _

Thomas: I was trying to hit the emergency button!

Thomas: Because you were trying to kill me!

Absolem: I reported the body.

Thomas: Because you killed her and I’m across the table from you!

Absolem: Thomas.

_ Remus: Toph literally hasn’t said a word. _

Thomas: You killed Remus!

_ Ratasha: DX _

_ Casper: I’m interested to see how she votes. _

Thomas: Casper wasn’t the impostor and he said he saw you!

Thomas: You went to the cafeteria during lights out!

Absolem: He was lying to try and stay alive.

_ Casper: ? But this was after the vote. _

Thomas: They already voted for him!

_ Casper: Yes, what he said. _

Absolem: Toph, I saw Thomas do it. Don’t let him get away.

**_Absolem has voted._ **

Thomas: Toph, please, it wasn’t me.

**_Thomas has voted._ **

_ Remus: They’re going to die if she doesn’t vote. _

_ Casper: Absolem played them well. _

Thomas: Toph, we have ten seconds.

Thomas: If you don’t vote, we’re dead!

**_Toph has voted._ **

**Thomas ⚑** **Casper**

 **Remus** **Toph**

 **Ratasha** **Absolem ⚑ ⚑**

Absolem: Well it was a good run.

**Absolem was The Impostor.**

“Ha!” Thomas exclaimed, as they were sent back into the waiting room, where Remus was waiting expectantly for him with an amused smirk on his face.

“Good call, Toph,” Absolem said kindly. Toph let out a heavy, nerve-ridden sigh and gave him a small smile.

“How did you get there so fast, though?” Thomas wondered. “You were in electrical before me!”

“You were slow,” he replied. “I ran up to medbay and vented to electrical while you were moving along the wall. My vision wasn’t reduced so it was easy. Then I went down and pretended to come up from behind Toph. I thought Casper was too far out of range to see me by admin, but I was mistaken.”

“Remus, I’m sorry!” Thomas cried. “I thought you were by my side!”

“It was a good kill,” Remus offered.

“Ghost chat is fairly entertaining,” Casper chuckled. “You can actually fly out into space a little.”

“You know you’re supposed to be doing your tasks as a ghost.”

“What can I say? It was a nice view.”

Thomas hopped up in a celebratory fashion. “One point for the crew! Zero points for the impostor!”

“ _ As of now. _ ”

* * *

**Impostor**

Remus acknowledged his role with little reaction, immediately heading downward while examining his list of fake tasks. Everyone began scurrying away to do their tasks; Casper ran off toward weapons, while everyone else moved down toward admin and storage. Absolem ran off into admin first, with Toph and Ratasha quickly following, and Thomas walked after Remus as they went down to storage. Remus moved to the wires and pretended to be fixing them.

“Oh, you have a task here?” Thomas looked up toward admin, frowning in confliction.

“If you have something in admin, best do it now while everyone’s there,” Remus told him. Thomas nodded, looking hesitant to leave him there alone, before running back up to admin to do his card swipe.

_ ‘Now, there’s one sure way to get a good first kill in without drawing too much suspicion…’ _ Remus sabotaged the lights soon after Thomas disappeared into the room, and watched as the vision percentage went down to 0. With his enhanced vision, he could see the others rush blindly out into the hallway, noticing the wariness and anxiety in their expressions. He stood by the wires until Thomas reached him, then made sure to move to storage with his body within Thomas’s narrow field of vision.

They all arrived at electrical at the same time, bodies stacked upon one another in the darkness. There was no way for anyone to see Remus’s quick slash at Absolem. _ ‘Best to get the smart ones out of the way,’ _ he thought to himself.

Before the lighting could be repaired, a startled Toph reported the body as the option became available on her screen.

**_Dead Body Reported_ **

Thomas: WHAT?!

Ratasha: :O

_ Absolem: Sneaky little rat. _

Casper: Absolem’s dead. Did anyone see anything?  
Remus: I was busy looking at the lights.

Toph: I didn’t want to mess up the lights, so I just waited

Toph: I didn’t see anyone move; the button was just there

Ratasha: :G

Casper: Whoever it was can just say they were doing lights.

Casper: Nice move!

Thomas: We have nothing to go on... Skip vote?

Remus: Might as well. Lights still need fixed.  
Casper: I’ll go with Thomas and fix the lights.

**_Casper has voted._ **

Casper: You two stay away so a stack killing doesn’t happen again!

Remus: Fair enough.

**_Remus has voted._ **

Thomas: Okay. Skipping!

**_Thomas has voted._ **

**_Toph has voted._ **

**_Ratasha has voted._ **

**Thomas** **Casper**

 **Remus** **Toph**

 **Ratasha** **Absolem**

**Skip ⚑ ⚑ ⚑ ⚑ ⚑**

**No one was ejected. (Skipped)**

The lights, still off, would have made it impossible for Remus to see where Toph was, so he circled around the table until he bumped into her, to avoid suspicion. She let out a small shriek before realizing he wasn’t about to kill her. Not yet, anyway -- he had to earn their trust somehow.

They waited in silence until the lights came back on, revealing they were alone in the cafeteria. Remus sighed and began moving to the left hallway -- his plan being to pretend to do vials in medbay -- when Toph spoke up.

“Uh -- Remus, sh-shouldn’t we stick together?”

He sighed and gave her a look. “Yeah, but not around here doing nothing. We can’t win if we don’t do tasks.”

“O-Oh, right. I have a task in reactor; can we go and do that…? It’s the Simon Says, so I don’t want to wait and have a meeting interrupt it…”

“Sure, we can do that first,” Remus agreed, not mentioning any of his tasks. Relief flooded Toph’s face and they hurried to reactor. Remus stood by the doorway, watching as she began the memory task. Sneakily, he sabotaged O2 -- the most effective way of splitting up the group from their pairs -- then waited for her to react.

To his mild annoyance, she didn’t. Toph looked toward him worriedly, as if to make sure he wouldn’t run off, then looked back at her task and continued working on it.

_ ‘Well, I guess this gives me an alibi at least,’  _ Remus reasoned. He heard a quiet ‘darn’ from Toph’s direction as she made a mistake and had to start over. He glanced down the hallway, seeing no signs of movement. He assumed the others were in admin and O2 already, taking care of the issue. As the timer went down to 10 seconds, he thought to himself amusedly that they sure were taking their time, just like Toph was.

Toph suddenly grinned and turned back to him. “I did it!” she exclaimed proudly. “Now, where do you need to go?”

Remus pulled up his list of fake tasks. “Let’s see…” He paused, trying to decide what the best direction to go would be before performing his next sabotage, when suddenly they were all ejected from the game.

**_Impostor Win_ **

~~~

Everyone spawned in the waiting room at roughly the same time, all staring at one another in shocked silence.

Remus blinked, processing his swift and unexpected victory. “You absolute buffoons.”

“What happened?” Thomas cried.

“No one fixed O2!”

“I was doing Simon Says!” Toph argued.

“Yeah, because  _ that’d  _ fill the task bar up by 50% and win the game for you.”

“We assumed someone else would do it!”

“You know what happens when you assume,” Absolem replied patronizingly.

“I had a feeling it was you,” Casper said, chuckling at Remus.

“Sure you did.”

“First you die on me, then you kill us all!” Thomas shook his head. “You’re not my partner anymore! I pick --” He paused and looked around the room. “... I pick Toph!”

“I feel so insulted,” Remus drawled.

* * *

**There is 1 Impostor among us.**

_ ‘I wonder what I should do if I become the impostor,’ _ Thomas thought to himself as the lights came on and the game started. He examined his map, looking at the locations his tasks were in -- wires in several places, a medbay scan, nav--

**_Dead Body Reported_ **

Remus: Okay, what just happened.

Ratasha: :DDD

_ Casper: A ghost in ghost chat again. _

Thomas: What?

_ Casper: … This is rather lonesome... _

Absolem: Casper is dead.

Thomas: I didn’t even finish checking my tasks!

Ratasha: DDD:

Toph: It’s possible to kill that quickly?!

_ Casper: Apparently so. _

Thomas: No one saw anything?!

Remus: Who was standing next to him?

Thomas: I didn’t pay attention

Absolem: I didn’t either. The report button came up, so I hit it.

Remus: Great. Take a minute to look next time.

Toph: So... should we skip?

Remus: Yeah I’m skipping.

Thomas: Skip.

**_Remus has voted._ **

**_Toph has voted._ **

**_Thomas has voted._ **

**_Absolem has voted._ **

Thomas: Ratasha, skip.

**Ratasha has voted.**

**Thomas** **Casper**

 **Remus** **Toph**

 **Ratasha** **Absolem**

**Skip ⚑ ⚑ ⚑ ⚑ ⚑**

**No one was ejected. (Skipped)**

Sighing, Thomas decided to head up and handle the wires in the northern part of the cafeteria. As he began connecting them, he heard footsteps hurrying toward him, and quickly jumped away from his task. Ratasha was standing there, watching him curiously, her tail swishing back and forth.

“Oh -- it’s just you. You scared me.” Thomas waited for a moment, realized she didn’t look like she wanted to hurt him, and then finished his task. He started moving toward the right hallway to reach navigations, and she hurried after him, seemingly distracted. He sighed, thankful he had someone by his side. He didn’t like to be alone.

Ratasha walked back and forth in the doorway as he steered the ship in the navigation room. When he finished, they started heading down the hall, when suddenly the lights went off. He and Ratasha sprinted toward electrical, she a few steps ahead of him. He saw Toph and Absolem by the lights in electrical as they ran in, and he saw Remus join them a few seconds later. He pulled up the screen to fix the lights, but they were fixed before he had a chance to do anything. When the lights came back on, he saw himself standing on the corpse of Absolem.

**_Dead Body Reported_ **

Thomas: They did it again!

_ Absolem: Hold on, did I just get killed by…? _

_ Casper: Yes. Yes you did. _

Remus: Alright, did anyone see someone acting sus?

Toph: I was with Absolem…

Thomas: I was with Ratasha.

Ratasha: :^)

Remus: Well it clearly wasn’t Absolem.

_ Absolem: Thanks, Remus. Very helpful. _

Thomas: Ratasha had the chance to kill me but didn’t.

Toph: It’s not me! I was with Absolem from the start!

Thomas: Why would you kill your alibi?

Toph: That’s what I mean!

Remus: All three of you were with someone; that doesn’t mean anything.

_ Casper: So, how’s your day? _

Remus: One of you killed Absolem.

Thomas: Oh, and where were you?

_ Absolem: Tiring. _

_ Casper: Yeah, I’m a little tired of being a ghost myself. _

Toph: Thomas, can I stay with you next round?

Thomas: Sure! Ratasha, go do your tasks. If you’re dead, it was Remus.

**_Toph has voted._ **

**_Thomas has voted._ **

**_Ratasha has voted._ **

_ Absolem: Honestly, I’d be suspecting him, too. What if she wins this? _

Remus: We’re down to four; you better not be helping an impostor.

_ Casper: She’d deserve it; I didn’t suspect a thing. _

Thomas: Helping an impostor? Why would I do that?

Toph: Skip vote.

Remus: We don’t have many more votes to skip.

**_Remus has voted._ **

Thomas: Sus.

**Thomas** **Casper**

 **Remus** **Toph**

 **Ratasha** **Absolem**

**Skip ⚑ ⚑ ⚑ ⚑**

**No one was ejected. (Skipped)**

As soon as the next round began, Toph inched toward the hall leading to the upper engine. Thomas followed her, while Remus and Ratasha remained standing in the cafeteria. Thomas glanced backwards nervously, but went into medbay with Toph anyway. She went onto the scanning platform and began her scan; Thomas let out a relieved sigh as the light encircled her, clearing her of suspicion. He glanced at his list of tasks and remembered that he, too, had a scan.

When she was done, he took his turn, watching as her nervous fidgeting stopped as she saw the visual task clear him as well. They shared a smile, knowing that now it was down to just Remus or Ratasha.

“It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?” Thomas asked, as they walked leisurely toward the cafeteria. “It’s Remus, so why don’t we just vote him off now? Before something happens to Ratasha or one of us.”

“Um…” Toph lifted a shaky finger, her face paling as she pointed toward the table. Thomas followed the trajectory, his mouth opening wide as he saw his two teammates by the emergency button, Ratasha standing on top of Remus’s bloody corpse.

“Noooooooooooo!” Thomas cried, charging forward and hitting the report button.

**_Dead Body Reported_ **

Thomas: RATASHA.

**_Thomas has voted._ **

_ Remus: I knew something was fishy. _

_ Casper: Not early enough, you didn’t. _

Toph: Ratasha.

**_Toph has voted._ **

Thomas: HOW COULD YOU.

Ratasha: :?

Thomas: VOTE.

_ Remus: She made two kills in front of us all and got away with it. _

_ Absolem: It’s the ones we underestimate that are the scariest of all. _

_ Casper: Word. _

Thomas: VOTE

Toph: Skip or vote

**_Ratasha has voted._ **

**Thomas** **Casper**

 **Remus** **Toph**

 **Ratasha ⚑ ⚑** **Absolem**

**Skip ⚑**

**Ratasha was The Impostor.**

“Hoooooow?!” Thomas cried, staring dumbfounded at Ratasha. She didn’t seem to understand his surprise, eagerly rubbing up against him.

“As we said in the ghost chat, those we underestimate can use that to their advantage.”

“Never underestimate the rat,” Remus stated.

Thomas’s eyes flickered over to him. “I’m sorry, Remus! I doubted you!”

“As you should.”

“You should never doubt your friends!”

“That  _ is  _ the point of this game, though,” Absolem pointed out.

“Let’s start the next one. I’d rather not die so early this time,” Casper laughed. “I know I’m a born ghost, but it gets kind of lonesome.”

“New rule, don’t kill Casper first!” Thomas declared.

“Okay,” Toph replied, nodding like that sounded fair.

“Nah, I’m passing on that.”

“Remus!”

“It’ll make the game less interesting.”

“I’ll pass too,” Absolem replied. “I can’t guarantee who I can murder and have the greatest chance of surviving the vote.”

“Hey,  _ I’m  _ the leader, so we listen to me!”

“Start the game,” Remus complained.

“Yeah, start the game,” Absolem agreed.

Thomas fumed silently and hit the button to start their next session.

* * *

**Impostor**

Toph’s eyes widened. Her, the impostor?! She’d been dreading this moment. She didn’t know what to do or how to act unsuspicious!

As the game began, she wished she had more time to come up with a plan. Everyone took a moment to look at their tasks, and then they went running in every direction. Toph followed after Absolem as he moved to the upper engine. He glanced backwards at her as she moved, but only for a split second, as he diverted the power, and then headed down the hall toward the lower engine. Toph followed, but she sensed Absolem’s suspicion and turned into security instead. She ran to the cameras and watched to make sure Absolem continued on his route, then looked around to spot the others.

One positive was that the others seemed to be pretty split up. She saw Thomas run into electrical seconds after Remus left, and Ratasha slipped into admin while Casper was moving from O2 to nav. It made it easy to kill… But the idea of it still made her nervous. She doubted she could get away with it.

Movement caught her eye and she realized Absolem was moving up the hall toward her. She quickly jumped off security just as Absolem entered, jumping back into the wall. She was certain this was it, that she would be found out -- but Absolem merely chuckled.

“It’s not me, don’t worry,” he said, and she relaxed. Ah, so he thought she was jumpy for a  _ different  _ reason.

Toph meant to keep her distance out of habit, when suddenly it hit her that this was the perfect opportunity to kill. She didn’t want to move closer, though, afraid that he might suddenly suspect her and run away. Thankfully, Absolem came toward her instead.

“So, what have you seen?” he asked quietly, squinting at the monitors. Toph swallowed and inched toward him -- only a slight movement, and she was in range. “Anything su--”

_ ‘Now!’  _ she thought desperately, jumping forward. With a slash, Absolem was cut in half with his lower body collapsed on the floor. High on adrenaline, Toph hopped into the vent in the corner of the room and went silent.

She moved toward the electrical opening, but sure enough, Thomas was still in there, nervously checking his back while fiddling with one of the tasks. Toph crawled toward the medbay vent, only to find Ratasha and Remus were now in there. Toph realized her mistake; she had no clue where Casper could be, and if she risked going back to check the cameras, she could be caught in the same room as the dead body. She still had a kill cooldown and it wasn’t going down while she sat in wait in the vents.

She moved back to electrical and saw Thomas finishing up with his wires and leaving the room. Just in case, she decided to check the medbay vent, also finding medbay completely empty.

_ ‘Where did Remus and Ratasha go?’ _ she wondered nervously.

Her curiosity didn’t last long.

**_Dead Body Reported_ **

Remus: Absolem by cams.

_ Absolem: Why. _

Ratasha: :X

Remus: Ratasha’s with me. She did a scan, so she’s good.

Casper: If you didn’t see anyone, I think it might be Thomas.

Thomas: WHAT?!

Casper: I just came from storage and he was leaving electrical.

Casper: And there’s a vent connecting from security to electrical.

Thomas: Now wait just a minute!

Remus: Tommy, did you see Casper?

Thomas: Yeah, I just left the room when the body was reported!

Casper: Remus, when did you and Ratasha start traveling together?

Thomas: Wait, Remus was in electrical before I was!

Remus: Yeah, so what? I’ve got trash.

Thomas: … Congratulations?

Remus: I mean the VISUAL.

_ Absolem: Sigh. _

Thomas: Ohhhh.

Casper: Then it’s Thomas?

Remus: We haven’t heard from Toph yet.

_ Absolem: Sense my vengeful spirit. _

Toph: Oh! Sorry, I was thinking.

Remus: … Uh-huh. Sure.

Casper: We’re out of time. Voting Thomas?

Thomas: Nooooooo!

Remus: Toph, what’s your alibi?

_ Absolem: Yes, good _

Casper: We have ten seconds, just vote.

Casper: Vote Thomas.

_ Absolem: No _

**_Casper has voted._ **

Thomas: It’s not me!!!

Remus: Sorry Tommy.

**_Remus has voted._ **

_ Absolem: I believed in you _

_ Absolem: And this is how you repay me _

Thomas: Casper!!

**_Thomas has voted._ **

**Thomas ⚑ ⚑** **Casper ⚑**

 **Remus** **Toph**

 **Ratasha** **Absolem**

**Thomas was not The Impostor.**

_ ‘Oh no… They suspect me now!’ _ Toph cried internally as the remaining three crewmates all moved to storage together, presumably to watch Remus do trash. She followed them, watching as Remus did the visual task, feeling a pit in her stomach. Remus and Ratasha were now both cleared, meaning Casper was the only other one who could be considered the culprit. But she was pretty sure she wouldn’t be smart enough to turn things against him.

As soon as the visual task was done, Remus and Ratasha went north, while Casper went to the left. Toph decided to move right, because she didn’t want to draw suspicion by going near any of them.

She popped into the vent in shields and crawled to navigation. She nearly crawled out when she noticed Remus and Ratasha enter the room. She put her hands over her mouth to silence her shocked gasp, then waited as the two of them moved to do their separate tasks. Remus sighed in annoyance and helped Ratasha out with her wiring when she mixed up the colored wires. Toph waited for the right moment, but she realized the two of them weren’t going to separate anytime soon.

They both left the room and Toph felt too anxious that they might return to leave her vent. She crawled back and forth between navigation and shields, trying to decide her next move, when suddenly the task bar filled up completely and they were all ejected from the game.

**Defeat**

“I knew it,” Remus claimed.

“No you didn’t, or you wouldn’t have voted for me!” Thomas shouted, stomping his foot.

“Good try, Toph,” Casper said, laughing heartily. “You had me fooled.” His words were kind and eased her anxieties over her performance. She smiled shyly back at him.

“You had me fooled as well,” Absolem admitted. “Though, looking back on it, it makes sense why you were so jumpy. It was your first time as impostor, after all.” Toph slowly nodded. “Impressive.”

“Th-Thank you,” she squeaked out, covering her heated cheeks.

“Alright, I wanna play another game! I have yet to become an impostor and take revenge on all of you for betraying me!” Thomas exclaimed.

“Way to announce your intentions and raise suspicions.”

* * *

**Impostor**

_ ‘Again?’ _ Remus thought, amused. Well, he couldn’t keep doing the same electrical trick; it had been done more than once already. Time for a new plan.

When the next game started, Remus headed down to admin first, along with Thomas, Absolem, and Casper, who all ran toward the card swipe. He instead stood at the download area and waited for the others to finish their tasks first, trying to decide which sabotage he should do, and when.

Absolem and Casper finished their swipes first and ran off in different directions -- Absolem north, and Casper south. Remus decided to stick by Thomas this round; it would be easier to place the blame for a kill on the hasty fire-type, especially after his declaration of war.

Thomas finally finished fumbling with his card swipe, letting out an exhausted breath. “It just never accepts my swipes!” Thomas complained. Remus looked at him suspiciously, making a show of checking the task bar to see if it went up. Thomas kept a small distance from Remus as he moved toward the entrance; Remus backed up to give him some sense of comfort, and that was all Thomas needed to relax completely.  _ ‘How easy they are to fool,’ _ Remus mused.

**Emergency Meeting**

Thomas: Huh?

Toph: RATASHA IS FOLLOWING ME

Ratasha: ~ ~ ~

Remus: So?

Toph: So?!

Thomas: She does that sometimes.

Toph: But what if she’s trying to kill me?!

Casper: Well, if you’re dead, we’ll know who it is.

Thomas: I have a scan btw!

Thomas: Btw means by the way

**_Casper has voted._ **

**_Ratasha has voted._ **

Absolem: We know what it means.

Remus: I’ll watch.

Casper: We can’t vote someone out just for following you.

Absolem: Let’s just focus on getting the tasks done.

Toph: Okay… Sorry

Absolem: It’s alright.

**_Absolem has voted._ **

Casper: No harm, no foul.

**_Remus has voted._ **

**_Thomas has voted._ **

**_Toph has voted._ **

**Thomas** **Casper**

 **Remus** **Toph**

 **Ratasha** **Absolem**

**Skip ⚑ ⚑ ⚑ ⚑ ⚑ ⚑**

**No one was ejected. (Skipped)**

Remus followed Thomas to medbay, surprised that Casper and Absolem went right by them instead of following in to check. Ratasha and Toph had gone in the other direction, hopefully separated. Things became too difficult when everyone stayed in pairs.

Thomas did his scan, and while he observed from afar, Remus wondered if he could simply lie that the visual hadn’t come on and place the future blame on Thomas. As soon as the Cyndaquil finished his scan, he ran out of medbay and to the cafeteria, not bothering to wait for him.

_ ‘Rude,’ _ Remus thought bitterly. He left the room and started to move for the cafeteria, watching as Thomas left his field of vision, when it suddenly hit him that being in medbay was the best place to perform a kill  _ because  _ it was dangerous. Not only that, but Thomas had seen him enter the cafeteria before their paths separated, meaning he could pin it on Casper or Absolem, who had been on the left side. With this in mind, Remus returned to medbay.

_ ‘Wait,’  _ he realized.  _ ‘Cams.’ _ It was stupid of him to think that neither Absolem nor Casper would look at the security cameras if they were on the left side. Cursing himself for returning to medbay, he hoped that neither had been on at the time as he sabotaged comms.

He hardly had time to move to the vials to pretend to be doing a task when Toph rushed in. Before he could think too much about it, he killed her and scurried down to the vent. Just as he was hopping in, he saw Ratasha run in and stop on top of the body.

_ ‘Thank goodness it was her and no one else,’ _ he thought to himself, certain that she had seen him. He crawled toward security, noting that no one was inside. Good. But, was someone in there before he disabled comms? That was the better question.

He decided to move toward the electrical vent instead -- best to give himself as much distance as possible -- when the body was finally reported.

**_Dead Body Reported_ **

Thomas: Where

Ratasha: XP

Absolem: Medbay. Casper and I just walked in.

Casper: Ratasha was standing on top of the body for a while, it seems.

Thomas: RATASHA HOW COULD YOU

Remus: She didn’t walk in with you?

Casper: She was already in there, and didn’t report until we tried to.

Thomas: SUS

Ratasha: SUS

Absolem: But I don’t think it’s Ratasha.

Thomas: ???

Absolem: We saw Remus enter medbay on cams right before it was sabotaged.

Casper: And he wasn’t in there when we came to see the body.

Thomas: Wait he was in medbay with me! To watch me scan.

Remus: Yeah, Tommy is safe.

Absolem: I mean after you both left, he went back in.

Remus: Yeah, I had to do the vial thing. Didn’t notice until then.

Absolem: Convenient timing, don’t you think? And you didn’t run into Toph?

Remus: I passed by her in cafeteria when I was leaving.

Thomas: Couldn’t it be self-report though?

Casper: Oh, I still think Ratasha is quite suspicious. Absolem thinks it’s Remus.

Absolem: Ratasha, did you see Remus?

Thomas: Ratasha?

Ratasha: ?

Thomas: Okay time is almost up, voting Ratasha and then Remus?

Absolem: Fine with me.

**_Thomas has voted._ **

**_Absolem has voted._ **

**_Casper has voted._ **

**_Remus has voted._ **

**_Ratasha has voted._ **

**Thomas** **Casper**

 **Remus** **Toph**

 **Ratasha ⚑ ⚑ ⚑ ⚑** **Absolem**

**Skip ⚑**

**Ratasha was not The Impostor.**

_ ‘Okay, great, how do we get out of this one,’ _ Remus thought, glancing at the three pairs of eyes fixed on himself. Even Thomas, who had defended him in the last round, looked wary of him now. Absolem was standing quite close to the button, hand raised over it, ready to press it as soon as the waiting time was up. Remus didn’t have very long -- he had to do something, or he’d be voted off.

_ ‘... Well, if there’s no chance of convincing them, I just have to kill two of them without anyone else finding the body.’ _ Remus quickly sabotaged O2, splitting up the group. Absolem shot him a knowing look, as the Emergency Button was disabled during sabotages. He moved by Casper, whispering something to him, and the two of them moved toward O2, leaving Thomas and Remus to take care of admin. They moved toward the button together. Thomas rushed to enter the code in admin, and as soon as he was standing in the corner, Remus stabbed him in the back.

_ ‘Sorry, pal, I’m short on time.’  _ Remus glanced down at his kill cooldown, noting that he still had about fifteen seconds before he could kill someone else. He hoped that Absolem and Casper were taking their time, because if one of them walked in here and reported the body before the time hit zero, he was lost.

He stood by the entrance, lying in wait, as the time ticked down at a painfully slow rate. Absolem and Casper had to have fixed O2 by now, and were on their way. They had to have known Thomas was dead. Now it was just a matter of which side was quicker.

When he saw Casper come down from above, he ran toward him, hoping it would spook him to turn back. To his luck, it did; Casper backed away, giving Remus the few extra seconds he needed for his kill cooldown to end. He ran back to the admin entrance, guarding it so Absolem didn’t make a sneak attack from south into admin.

Sure enough, as he returned to the entrance, he spotted Absolem coming up from storage. Remus didn’t even need to kill him; the O2 timer went off before Absolem got in range, and they were all ejected from the game.

**_Impostor Win_ **

~~~

“Casper, why weren’t you at admin?” Absolem demanded, his voice sounding more disappointed than angry. Remus wondered if he’d ever hear Absolem blow a fuse; he was certain that would be scarier than any encounter he’d had in his life so far.

“Clever play there, little rat,” Casper laughed. “I should have just gone by you.”

“You should have,” Remus agreed. “You would have won.”

Thomas frowned. “Rem, whyyy.”

“That’s the way the world works, kid. Lie and betray.”

_ “Stop calling me a kid!” _

Toph giggled, and every pair of eyes fell upon her. She covered her mouth, her eyes squeezed shut as she let out a series of half-suppressed giggles.

“What’s so funny, huh?” Thomas demanded.

“Sorry!”

“Don’t laugh at me!” Thomas frowned, crossing his stubby little arms as best as he could and sticking his snout up in the air. “ _ I _ am an  _ adult _ .”

His words had the opposite effect than intended. Remus startled to chuckle, Casper joining in with his signature boisterous laughter, and pretty soon their little game room seemed like one of those “end of the show” sequences where one character laughs and it becomes contagious, traveling around the room until all the characters are infected.

Even Thomas, though he still felt insulted, couldn’t help but smile as he watched his team grow closer together. Even a game full of lying and betrayals strengthened rather than weakened the bonds of his friends -- no, his new  _ family _ . With them, he knew he could do anything.

And one day, with them by his side, he would taste the air at the top of the world, as a Pokemon Champion.


	2. Among Us (Part 2) (C3.3 < C4.1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> {I actually used a spinner app and inserted all of the names into it and spun 10 times to decide who would be impostor and in what order. A couple of them were very close to the border of another name, so for those ones, those characters do act in favor of the impostor.}

**Impostor**

Toph went to medbay and stood by the vials, pretending to do the task. Remus and Thomas walked in and stood further back, watching her as she stood there.

She knew that the vials were a time task, so she remained waiting there, glancing anxiously back at them and waiting for them to react. Remus did his scan in front of Thomas, and then the two of them went back near the vent and continued waiting.

Toph realized they were waiting to see the task bar go up when she finished the vials, and a nervous tension ran through her body. Both were eyeing her suspiciously, somehow already on the right track. She needed to do something, and fast.

She decided to sabotage, picking reactor on instinct instead of electrical, which might have been easier. Then she paused and looked back at the other two, waiting to see what they did. Remus seemed resolute on waiting for her to do her task first, but Thomas refused to leave the room without him, pulling him toward the entrance. Eventually, Remus seemed to give in, and the two of them went to reactor.

Toph sighed in relief and stayed a few more minutes to pretend she was finishing the vial task, when the alert for reactor suddenly went off, and the dread pooled back into her. There was no way Remus and Thomas had gotten there in time -- which meant they’d be coming right back, and two of the others were in reactor together as well.

But she couldn’t just wait the whole game like she did last time. Toph left medbay, pausing at the entrance as she tried to decide where to go. To her surprise, Thomas came sprinting down the hall toward cafeteria, barely even looking at her as he moved, looking a bit nervous but determined. Toph tried to hit kill but she missed and Thomas ran right past her. She began to follow him for a few steps, before she realized that would be suspicious.

_ ‘I guess I have to go left then,’ _ she thought. At least there’d be someone to kill in that direction.

She barely turned around and took a step before Remus was right in front of her, running in the same direction as Thomas. She hit the kill button before she had time to think about it. Mere seconds later, Casper and Ratasha were there on her left, walking toward her from upper reactor.

She had no other choice but to self-report.

**_Dead Body Reported_ **

Casper: It was Toph!

Thomas: REMUS NO

_ Remus: Dramatic much? _

Casper: Ratasha and I just walked in on Toph standing next to the body XD

Thomas: Remus told me to go first and he’d go second!

Thomas: I just passed Toph and she tried to chase me, too!

Casper: Vote Toph.

**_Casper has voted._ **

**_Ratasha has voted._ **

Toph: … Yeah it was me.

Thomas: REMUS, I WILL AVENGE YOU.

**_Thomas has voted._ **

_ Remus: Thanks Tommy. _

Absolem: I wasn’t anywhere near there, nor did I see anyone, so I’ll have to trust your judgement.

Absolem: You all seem sure enough.

**_Absolem has voted._ **

Casper: … Also she confessed

Absolem: Oh. I missed that somehow.

Thomas: Toph, vote! We know it was you!

**_Toph has voted._ **

**Thomas** **Casper**

 **Remus** **Toph ⚑ ⚑ ⚑ ⚑ ⚑**

 **Ratasha** **Absolem**

**Skip**

**Toph was The Impostor.**

“At least you were honest about it,” Thomas told Toph afterwards.

“I’m so bad at this game.”

“We get better with experience,” Casper reassured her.

“Besides, Thomas and Remus conspired, and you were unlucky enough to have everyone in the same place at one time,” Absolem reasoned. “Even I probably would have failed in that scenario.”

Thomas cocked his head to the side. “ _ Probably _ ?”

“Someone sure is confident,” Remus mused.

“A-Anyway, let’s play again!”

* * *

**There is 1 Impostor among us.**

Thomas watched Remus hesitate before going left toward upper reactor, and decided that he was too suspicious to follow for this round. Toph moved in the opposite direction and Absolem and Ratasha went to admin where he didn’t have any tasks, so he decided to follow Casper to electrical. Best to get his three scary tasks done first; everyone knew electrical was a death sentence.

He went to do the task on the right first because of how long it took. He didn’t even notice Casper inching towards him until the kill animation played on his screen, Casper shooting him twice with a gun, before his character leapt into a vent and was gone.

It was Ratasha who came across the body and hit report.

**_Dead Body Reported_ **

Casper: Okay where

Toph: Ratasha reported the body.

Remus: Then who saw where Ratasha went last?

Absolem: We were in admin together. She went toward storage while I went through cafeteria to get to O2.

Casper: When I went through storage earlier the body wasn’t there so it has to be recent!

Remus: I was doing Simon Says.

_ Thomas: You aren’t even going to mourn me?? _

Toph: I was in O2.

Remus: So no one was together?

Absolem: I think it could have been self-report, but I’d rather wait a round to see what happens next.

Remus: Agreed

Toph: Skip?

**_Casper has voted._ **

**_Remus has voted._ **

**_Absolem has voted._ **

**_Toph has voted._ **

**_Ratasha has voted._ **

**Thomas** **Casper**

 **Remus** **Toph**

 **Ratasha** **Absolem**

**Skip ⚑ ⚑ ⚑ ⚑ ⚑**

**No one was ejected. (Skipped)**

Casper headed right to electrical this time, with Toph and Remus just ahead of him. Absolem was going to the right side of the map, and Ratasha scurried to the left.

When he floated into electrical, he stood on the vent, pretending to do the task there, and waited. When Toph moved from one task to the next, he flew toward her and attacked. Remus heard her cry and turned his head, looking startled for a brief moment as Casper floated toward the vent, cackling in excitement. Remus rolled his eyes and reported Toph’s body as Casper disappeared into the vent.

**_Dead Body Reported_ **

Remus: Nice try, Casper.

Casper: Oh-ho, so you’re blaming me?

Remus: Of course I am.

Absolem: Where?

Casper: Electrical, self-report, Toph.

Remus: This guy just tried to vent.

**_Remus has voted._ **

Casper: Lies.

**_Casper has voted._ **

Absolem: You’re certain it was Casper trying to vent?

Absolem: And how did you know he was trying to?

Casper: Hey, don’t side with him! He’s trying to ghoul you all!

Remus: Yeah, he entered with us.

Remus: He literally started to jump in.

Absolem: Because Ratasha had also gone to the left with you.

Remus: And that pun’s asking for death.

Remus: Look, I know what I saw.

Remus: He was laughing as he did it.

Casper: Absolem, it’s a self-report! I wasn’t even able to get CLOSE to the body!

Remus: You vote me and we lose.

Absolem: It’s unfortunate.

**_Absolem has voted._ **

Remus: … What is?

Absolem: You make a good liar, Casper.

Casper: WHAT?!

Absolem: Only you would make the same kill twice and feel comfortable enough laughing about it in front of a witness.

Remus: THANK you

Casper: No no no no that’s not true at all!

Absolem: If I’m wrong then I applaud you, Remus.

Remus: You’re not but I’ll take it.

Casper: You’re committing a grave error, my friends!

Absolem: I don’t think so.

Remus: Is Ratasha going to vote?

Absolem: Vote.

**_Ratasha has voted._ **

**Thomas** **Casper ⚑ ⚑ ⚑**

 **Remus ⚑** **Toph**

 **Ratasha** **Absolem**

**Skip**

**Casper was The Impostor.**

“Some evidence you had there,” Casper said, laughing boisterously.

“You got me  _ and  _ Toph both in electrical!” Thomas complained.

“He’s a one-trick pony.”

“Hmm, I’m beginning to like this game! When I’m not killed off early, that is. I boolieve next time I’ll win.”

Remus winced at the pun. “Ugh, kill me already.”

Absolem raised an eyebrow. “That’s a lot of confidence, Casper. I hope you live up to it.”

* * *

**There is 1 Impostor among us.**

As soon as the game began and everyone paused to check their tasks, Toph and Absolem moved down to O2. Thomas started heading right to navigation, where he had to do some wiring and steer the ship. He felt a bit uneasy about being alone, but it wasn’t anything he could help. He just wanted to get these tasks done quickly and get out of here.

He did the wiring first, then let out a satisfied sigh and moved toward the wheel. As he started to do his task, a quick movement from behind him made him jump and scream. But when he leapt toward the corner and turned his head, he realized he wasn’t being targeted. Ratasha blinked at him curiously, then spun around and moved to the top of navigation.

“Ah. Ratasha, you scared me!” Thomas complained. She stared down at the vent below her feet, confused. Thomas shook his head. “No, those are just for the impostor. You can’t vent unless you’re--” Suddenly, the vent cover opened up and Ratasha leapt inside. Thomas’s eyes shot open. A brief silence followed, as Thomas’s instincts told him to run.

But then she jumped right back out, seemingly proud of herself. She hopped back in, then right back out, then back in, then back out. She looked up at Thomas as if waiting for praise, and Thomas realized she wasn’t planning on taking him out.

“Ratasha…” Thomas frowned, taking pity on her. He could run and report her right now, and her run would already be over before she had a chance.

… Or… he could take a note from Remus and have a little fun himself.

His eyes sparkled. “Hey, Ratasha.” She tilted her head. “Come with me.” He gestured for her to follow him and he walked out of weapons and into O2. Once there, he gestured to her little pad that allowed her to cause sabotages. He pointed to the O2 room, and she clicked it.

As O2 went off, Thomas pushed Ratasha toward the garbage task and placed himself by the leaf one, and they waited. Soon enough, Absolem flew in. He took one glance at the two of them and didn’t hesitate to come closer to fix the oxygen.

“Now, Ratasha!” Thomas declared, charging for Absolem. Ratasha did the same. Their teammate looked alarmed and confused as they ran toward him, but he didn’t have a chance to escape; Ratasha sliced his character and then he was gone.

“Great job!” Thomas exclaimed. They waited for 5 seconds, then pressed the report button.

**_Dead Body Reported_ **

Casper: Where

Remus: Don’t you start that

_ Absolem: I have no words. Just utter disappointment. _

Remus: … but where.

Thomas: Ratasha and I just got to O2 from weapons and found the body

Thomas: We were together the whole time

Remus: Great, so it’s down to Casper or Toph.

Toph: I was in electrical!  
Casper: It could still be you.

Ratasha: oOo

Remus: We’re gonna skip, right?

Casper: Better to skip than diminish our numbers.

Thomas: Okay then.

**_Thomas has voted._ **

**_Casper has voted._ **

**_Ratasha has voted._ **

**_Remus has voted._ **

**_Toph has voted._ **

**Thomas** **Casper**

 **Remus** **Toph**

 **Ratasha** **Absolem**

**Skip ⚑ ⚑ ⚑ ⚑ ⚑**

**No one was ejected. (Skipped)**

The next game began, and Ratasha waited curiously for Thomas to come up with a plan. Casper moved down to storage while Toph and Remus went down the left hallway toward the upper engine.

“Okay, Ratasha.” Thomas pointed down at Casper. “Get him.”

Ratasha playfully scurried down to storage. Casper uneasily floated away from her as she pranced closer to where he was standing by the fuel tank. She circled the center stack of boxes and took him out before he could decide whether or not to run.

“Good job!” Thomas praised, moving downward to meet her. “You still have a kill cooldown, so… here! Follow me.” He motioned toward electrical, where the two of them hid by the tasks. Thomas completed one of his, just for the sake of wasting time, then glanced out into the hall. “I still don’t see anyone…” He blinked. “Wait -- Ratasha, let’s sabotage comms!” He hurried toward her device and pointed at the button. “Remus might be watching cams!”

Whether or not she understood what he was saying, she pressed the sabotage button anyway, and the alert went out to everyone. Thomas grinned. “Now let’s wait for someone to show up and then go with them to comms! That’s a perfect alibi!”

Ratasha let out a sound of agreement. A few moments later, a grumbling Remus started moving down the hall from lower engine.

“Hey, Remus!” Thomas exclaimed. Remus raised an eyebrow as he was joined by the two of them. “Were you on security? Did you see anything?”

“No,” he replied. “Other than Toph going from medbay to the cafeteria just before the sabotage.”

Thomas narrowed his eyes. “Suspicious.”

“What’s suspicious about tha--?” Remus suddenly froze, and Thomas looked up and saw Casper’s body sitting in storage right in their way.  _ ‘Oh no, I’m so dumb, we should have sabotaged electrical instead!’ _ Before Thomas could think about what to do, Remus was moving toward the body. Ratasha surged forward to take him out but Thomas pulled her back.

“Wait,” he whispered. If Remus died too, then Toph would know it was one of them!

He didn’t have the chance to think things through before they were sent into a meeting.

**_Dead Body Reported_ **

_ Casper: Greetings Absolem. How is your day going? _

Remus: Alright, I don’t get this.

Thomas: Casper in storage!

Toph: I-It’s Remus!

Remus: Tommy and Ratasha saw I came from security.

Remus: They found the body with me.

Thomas: Yeah we went to solve comms together.

Thomas: But you weren’t with us!

Toph: I was in the cafeteria!

Thomas: Doing what?

_Casper: Absolem? You asleep?_  
Remus: But I thought I saw Toph do a task and the meter went up…

Toph: Wires!

Thomas: Well we were doing tasks too!

Remus: You two were together? The whole time?

Thomas: Yes!

Remus: You sure about that?

Toph: It wasn’t me! It’s Remus!

Remus: How could I have killed Casper from security.

Toph: How do we know you were there?!

_ Casper: The only ghost in ghost chat. :( _

Remus: If those two weren’t together the whole time I wouldn’t even suspect you.

Remus: You’re actually making me second-guess myself.

Toph: I’m telling you it’s not me!

Remus: You could have gotten to storage from cafeteria and then hid in comms when we found the body...

Toph: I’m in cafeteria! I didn’t leave!

Thomas: We’re out of time.

Thomas: Voting Toph?

**_Ratasha has voted._ **

Toph: No! Vote Remus!

**_Thomas has voted._ **

**_Toph has voted._ **

Toph: It’s not me, Thomas, you have to believe me!

Thomas: I’m really sorry, Toph.

Toph: You’re voting wrong!

Thomas: Remus you gotta vote!

**Thomas** **Casper**

 **Remus ⚑** **Toph ⚑ ⚑**

 **Ratasha** **Absolem**

**Skip**

**Toph was not The Impostor.**

Thomas couldn’t help but laugh at the startled look on Remus’s face as they all appeared yet again in the cafeteria. Remus’s eyes flickered toward him and he looked both furious and impressed at the same time.

That wasn’t what Thomas thought was so funny, though. It was also that Ratasha was circling him and he didn’t even cast her a second glance. He was looking at Thomas.  _ He thought Thomas was the impostor. _

Remus glanced down at the emergency meeting cooldown as he stood by the button. Only then did he glance to his right and notice Ratasha closing in on him. He must have realized just then that no matter what he did, he would lose. Call a meeting, they would vote together; don’t call a meeting, and die. He rolled his eyes.

“Congratulations,” he said snarkily.

“I was just following your advice,” Thomas said innocently. A moment later, Ratasha slashed, and then it was over.

**_Impostor Win_ **

Back in the waiting room, Casper tried to wake Absolem up, but it turned out the Butterfree had used Sleep Powder on himself and wasn’t waking up so easily. Toph declared yet again that she had been innocent the whole time, crossing her arms obstinately. Thomas high-fived Ratasha’s tail and explained himself, making everyone look at him in annoyance.

“Third impostor,” Toph grumbled.

“I’m sorry! ! just thought it would make the game more fun for her and everyone!”

“Can’t say I’m not annoyed, but…” Remus sighed. “You’re right; it’s better than the game ending right away. I  _ don’t  _ believe you when you say it was because of  _ me _ , though. You’re still just following your misguided sense of loyalty.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being a loyal friend!” Thomas argued. “... and why not both?”

“It can’t be both.” Remus looked tired, as if they’d had this conversation a hundred times before.

“I’m up, I’m up,” Absolem yawned. “Stop licking me.”

“Wait what?” Thomas looked at him and Casper, confused.

“Your Lick causes paralysis,” Remus said. “What good do you think that’s gonna do?”

Casper faced him; he would have shrugged had he had shoulders. “Better than nothing.”

“Paralyzing him would  _ also  _ make continuing the game impossible.”

“Anyway, let’s start!” Thomas exclaimed.

“Fine, fine.”

* * *

**There is 1 Impostor among us.**

Remus glanced down at his list of tasks, then looked around the room, to see if anyone was acting outwardly suspicious. Thomas and Ratasha went right, Toph seemed to just be standing around thinking, Casper went right a few moments later, and Absolem went down to admin.

Remus looked at his tasks again, deciding he would first do his task in weapons. He also had a visual there so if any of the three who’d gone by were still there, he could prove his innocence.

When he walked into weapons, he saw Ratasha’s dead body sitting near the vent at the top.

**_Dead Body Reported_ **

Remus: Alright, the body’s in weapons.

Absolem: That was rather fast.

Casper: Self-report or Thomas!

Remus: Thomas, you were with Ratasha.

Remus: Hey, you also went that direction after those two.

Thomas: It’s not me, I’m in nav!

Casper: Yes but I went to shields.

Absolem: I was in admin and no one vented there from that hallway.

Thomas: You can vent to admin from there?!

Casper: Alternatively Absolem could have vented and done it.

Remus: No one saw anyone in the hall?

Thomas: Nope! I left Ratasha in weapons

Casper: I went straight to shields.

Absolem: I was in admin. Toph, where were you?

Toph: I was trying to get somewhere to do a task…

Toph: … without anyone knowing so no one killed me

Toph: But you didn’t give me enough time

Remus: … very specific.

Remus: But no, it’s not Toph. I left caf before she did.

Thomas: Skip? Ten seconds left.

Remus: Skip

**_Thomas has voted._ **

**_Remus has voted._ **

**_Toph has voted._ **

**_Casper has voted._ **

**_Absolem has voted._ **

**Thomas** **Casper**

 **Remus** **Toph**

 **Ratasha** **Absolem**

**Skip ⚑ ⚑ ⚑ ⚑ ⚑**

**No one was ejected. (Skipped)**

_ ‘Alright, so it could be anyone but Toph.’ _ Remus frowned suspiciously at Thomas, who glanced around nervously before heading down to storage. He had a feeling it was Thomas, based on what could have been guilt on his face. But that also could have been his stupid sense of protectiveness over the other rat in their group. Remus found himself hoping it was Thomas, because that would mean Thomas was becoming a better liar. Sometimes deceit was the only way to survive -- maybe this game would finally grind that message into his skull.

Remus went to reactor to do the numbers task, sweeping by upper and lower engine for quick tasks before going through storage to do his death-sentence task in communications. As he walked in storage, he witnessed Thomas kill Toph in the middle of the room.

Thomas spotted him and panicked. Before Remus could say a word, he hit the self-report button and they were sent into the meeting.

**_Dead Body Reported_ **

Absolem: I have trash.

Thomas: REMUS

**_Thomas has voted._ **

Remus: Tommy and I walked in on the body in storage

Thomas: REMUS KILLED

Casper: I’ll watch tra-- Oh. I suppose it’s not necessary.

Remus: 

**_Casper has voted._ **

Casper: I had my suspicions.

Absolem: I as well.

**_Absolem has voted._ **

Thomas: Oh… wait

Thomas: I mean… maybe he didn’t

Casper: You just said he killed

Absolem: Thomas what did you see.

Thomas: I mean… I saw him in the room

Thomas: Idk I panicked!

Absolem: You don’t usually panic to that extent.

Absolem: Thomas are you the killer.

Thomas: NO I’m not!

Casper: He and Ratasha were still together when I passed them in weapons!

Absolem: Remus, was Thomas near the body when you entered

Absolem: Remus?

Casper: He’s not answering or voting...

Absolem: Hmm.

Absolem: Watch me do trash. From a distance.

**Thomas** **Casper**

 **Remus ⚑ ⚑ ⚑** **Toph**

 **Ratasha** **Absolem**

**Skip**

**Remus was not The Impostor.**

Casper, Absolem, and Thomas exchanged concerned looks as they found themselves once more in the cafeteria. All three of them could have, by some stretch, killed Ratasha, and only one of them had admitted to being in storage on the second round.

Absolem fluttered down toward storage, exchanging backward glances to ensure the other two were following along. Casper had no more tasks and the bar was nearly full.

Absolem stood by the task and was beginning to fulfill it, while Casper stood as far away as possible and Thomas stood between them, at a distance. He shuffled a bit closer after a few seconds, and alarm bells rang off in Casper’s mind.

“Absolem!” he called out in warning, a second too late. The trash animation was just beginning to start when Thomas lunged forward and attacked.

**_Impostor Win_ **

“I did it!” Thomas realized in awe.

“You did,” Remus confirmed. “You’re a better liar than I thought.”

“Remus is that why you vouched for him?” Absolem looked amused. “You saw him kill Toph, didn’t you?”

“Yep.”

“But why?!” Toph exclaimed. “We could have won! We were so close!”

“Because I wanted to,” Remus shrugged. “That’s it.”

Casper nodded. “Good game. I was certain it was Remus.”

Hearing that name, Thomas spun around to his first teammmate. “Sorry, Remus! I thought you were gonna tell on me!”

“They would’ve voted me out for two ‘self-reports’ anyway. Nothing on you, kid.”

Thomas’s eyes narrowed. “Remus I’m as old as you are!”

Remus shrugged. “You act like one, I’ll call you one.”

“Then Absolem is a corpse!”

Absolem rolled his eyes and flapped his wings, gathering their attention. “Well, as  _ fascinating  _ as this game has been, I’m ready to go to sleep. One more round?”

“That just proves my point!” Thomas exclaimed.

“Yeah, one more round’s fine.”

“I agree,” Casper said. Toph nodded. The team looked to their leader.

Thomas sighed, overruled by popular vote. “Okay…”

* * *

When the game began, Remus immediately ran toward admin. After a few seconds, Thomas, Ratasha, Toph, and Casper all followed, but Absolem remained by the emergency button. As soon as its timer reached 0, the meeting was called.

**Emergency Meeting**

Thomas: What? We just started.

Absolem: It’s Remus.

Remus: ???

Absolem: Remus always goes straight down immediately when he’s impostor.

Absolem: Which he just did.

Remus: You’re kidding

**_Absolem has voted._ **

Remus: Sh*t you’re not

**_Ratasha has voted._ **

Remus: Seriously?

Thomas: I trust you Absolem.

**_Thomas has voted._ **

Remus: TOMMY

Casper: If you’re actually the impostor I might laugh myself to death.

**_Casper has voted._ **

Remus: I swear to god Absolem--

**_Toph has voted._ **

Absolem: Vote.

Absolem: I have the power of god and memes on my side.

Remus: ………

**_Remus has voted._ **

**Thomas** **Casper**

 **Remus ⚑ ⚑ ⚑ ⚑ ⚑** **Toph**

 **Ratasha** **Absolem ⚑**

**Skip**

**Remus was The Impostor.**

“Wow.” Remus squinted at Absolem from across the room. “That just happened.”

“See where trust gets you!” Thomas exclaimed, sitting on the chair with his legs swinging back and forth.

“I can’t believe it was true.” Toph looked between the two of them in shock. Remus sighed, shaking his head in equal disbelief.

Casper cackled maniacally. “He got you there!” he sputtered out between laughs.

Remus glanced around the room before edging away from Absolem. “I’m legitimately concerned by how much you know.”

“These eyes see everything.” Absolem stared directly at him with his large red eyes.

“Okay, Absolem, dial down the creep factor;  _ I’m  _ the ghost here!”

“ _ Goosebumps _ books are scarier than you are.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Okay, I think that’s enough games for one night,” Remus declared. “I don’t know how I can come back from this.”

“Yes, it’s best to end on a high note,” Absolem agreed. Casper was still laughing in the background.

“Aww. Fine.” Thomas sighed. “Alright, Roman, we’re done.”

**_“Cool. So I can bring you guys out now?”_ ** Roman’s voice came from outside the PC system.

“Yep! Go ahead.”

“Alright, let’s go get settled for bed. We have a big day tomorrow.”

“We sure do!” Thomas’s eyes sparkled with excitement. Absolem yawned, sending a chain reaction throughout the room.

Remus rolled his eyes. “I can hardly wait.”


End file.
